Nemo

Arrival at Baltra Airport, your luggage will be inspected. In front of the arrival hall you will meet your naturalist guide and fellow passengers, and you will be transferred to the landing. Our inflatable dinghy brings you the last stretch to the yacht.

North Seymour is the perfect start of your Galapagos visit, without having to navigate a long stretch to get first contact with the unique insular nature. It is one of the most visited sites.

You can spot lots of seabirds, such as brown pelicans, red-billed tropicbirds , endemic swallow-tailed gulls and even Nazca boobies (seasonally) , but the main attraction are the archipelago’s most extensive breeding colonies of b lue-footed boobies and frigatebirds . At the start of the breeding season (shifting on our calendar) adult frigatebird -males blow up their vivid red pouches to impressive football-sized balloons. This is one of the few spots (besides Genovesa and Pitt Point) where you can compare the magnificent and the rarer great frigatebird breeding next to each other. Frigatebirds prefer to attack returning boobies and conduct aerial battles rather than fishing for themselves. The even more popular b lue-footed boobies show their cute courtship rituals, in which their remarkable feet play an important role.

Overnight onboard.

Included: lunch and dinner.

As one of the outer islands and most exclusive places on the Galapagos, Genovesa is well worth last night’s longer navigation. All impressions will be nearly too much for a single day! Hundreds of thousands of seabirds perch and nest on the cliffs around its flooded crater. Not only because of its historical English name (Tower) Genovesa has a royal touch.

Genovesa’s horseshoe shaped wall is proof that we have anchored inside the partly collapsed and submerged caldera of a submarine volcano! The visitor’s site named Darwin Bay is located at the very rear. This compact site shows the extremly varied coastal ecosystems of the Galapagos in miniature. Whimbrels and wandering tattlers forage actively along the surf, next to resting Galapagos sea lions. Herons wait motionlessly at the tidal pools.

Before landing you will take a dinghy-ride along the eastern arm of the caldera. On approach, the 25m/80ft high walls become overwhelming, and will give you a better impression of the dimensions of this cráter. You will therefore have to hike and overcome the steep stairs from the landing dock to a bush of palo santo shrubs on top. Following the exposed rim you will first pass a colony of Nazca boobies and finally reach the extensive storm petrel nesting places, where you might be lucky enough to spot how the well-camouflaged short-eared owl hunts for them on foot!

Overnight onboard.

Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Just off the coast of Santiago, Sailing Catamaran Nemo I will anchor at two volcanoes islets: Bartolomé (recently born out of fire) and Chinese Hat. You will arrive exactly on time at Chinese Hat to witness how this barren volcano islet gets colonised by pioneer species and begins to sprout! Enjoy the famous wild romantic panorama of Bartolomé. Very close to the equator you will have first opportunities to meet endangered Galapagos penguins; whilst snorkelling you might even encounter these agile hunters fishing!

The wild romantic volcano islet of Bartolomé is among the youngest of the islands, and on a geological scale just recently born out of fire. Although tiny (only 120ha/300ac) and at first sight lifeless, Bartolomé offers some of the wildest landscapes and best panoramas in the entire archipelago. To enjoy the postcard view of the idyllic ‘Pinnacle Bay’ you have to climb the stairs to the viewpoint on top of the island (114m/375ft). Suddenly enter a dramatic world of threatening (though extinguished) nearby spatter cones, craters, and lightweight lava droplets that have been spewed out by fiery fountains. The Summit Trail is also ideal for witnessing how scanty pioneer vegetation such as lava cactus struggles to take root in the bare virgin lava fields.

Chinese Hat is a 52m/170ft high volcanic cone, forming another islet right off the rocky coast of Santiago, where a small colony of Galapagos penguins has settled. Approaching Chinese Hat from the north, you will certainly agree with its name. Because its primordial fire has been extinguished recently, this is an excellent place to learn more about volcanism, lava bombs and lava tunnels. You will arrive just in time to witness how this barren islet gets colonised by pioneer species and begins to sprout! Beaches of white coral sand grow, and holes in the eroding lava fields are filled up with lava sand, which enables rooting. Galapagos sea lions and countless marine iguanas contribute to fertilisation, which all together create more favourable options for newcomers, like saltbush and the discolouring sesuvium carpet. Colonisation of Chinese Hat can occur in a much higher pace than elsewhere, hence Santiago is just a stone’s throw away.

Overnight onboard.

Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

This cruise itinerary ends at Puerto Ayora. En route to the airport you will pass the lush highlands of Santa Cruz, where you will get the opportunity to look for the most famous representatives of Galapagos: a wild population of Galapagos giant tortoises.

Because wild Galapagos giant tortoises don’t stop at official National Park boundaries, dozens of them also roam – and even mate – on the adjacent woodlands in the populated agricultural zone of Santa Cruz. Thanks to their concentrations around their favourite muddy pools, these semi-open pastures and moist scalesia -woodlands are the best place for a quick visit. Most of their long lives is spent slowly and silently, except for a warning hiss, or loud screams during mating, which can be heard from afar in the first half of the year.

Transfer to Baltra airport. Assisted by the naturalist guide and some crew members the dinghy will bring you and your luggage to Baltra, where we take the airport shuttle.

Included: Breakfast.